Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 14, 2026

Studying the Effects of Temperature on the Nucleation and Growth of Nanoparticles by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy
Published on: February 17, 2021
A time-resolved numerical study of the vapor-liquid-solid growth kinetics describing the initial nucleation phase as
Björn Eisenhawer1, Vladimir Sivakov, Silke Christiansen
1Institute of Photonic Technology, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 9, D-07745 Jena, Germany. Bjoern.eisenhawer@ipht-jena.de
Abstract:
Today, the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism is a common process for the metal catalyzed bottom-up growth of semiconductor nanowires (NWs). Nevertheless, most of the literature only is concerned with the steady-state NW growth which applies when the amount of material supplied is equal to the amount consumed by the NW growth at the same time. While this description is suitable for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or electron beam evaporation (EBE) processes after the initial nucleation time, problems arise when pulsed growth processes like pulsed laser deposition (PLD) are used since in this case the steady state growth condition cannot be applied. Moreover, the initial phase of NW growth cannot be described with steady state growth conditions, either. In this work, we present a modeling approach for VLS NW growth based on numerical simulations, which is capable of describing the nucleation phase of the VLS growth process as well as a pulsed deposition process.
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
Crystal Growth: Principles of Crystallization
Initiating crystallization involves manipulating the concentration of the solute and the temperature of the solution. Since crystal growth occurs when the ratio of concentration and solubility of the solute in the solvent – the...
Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria
Fast Reactions
Precipitate Formation and Particle Size Control
The obtained precipitate should be either a pure substance of known composition or easily converted to one by a simple process, such as ignition or drying. In addition, the precipitate should be insoluble and easily filterable. In general, filterability...
Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition

